Microsoft brings High Definition IPL 20-20 Cricket Web Streaming.
It gives me immense pleasure to let you know that Microsoft is announcing the launch of a Silverlight-based web experience for the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, one of the most popular cricket tournaments in the world. The Indian Premier League (IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
Second season of the IPL starts on Saturday, 18 April (Indian Standard Time), and will be streamed online for the first time in high-definition using Microsoft Silverlight. A 5-minute delay in streaming is expected in India. Highlights and full replays of the matches will be available in South Africa, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and USA on demand, approximately 72 hours after the match.
Cricket is the world’s third most popular spectator sport, with fans in over 120 countries, including India, Pakistan, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, the West Indies and even a dedicated following in the United States.
Silverlight 2.0
Silverlight has become the platform of choice for delivering live and on demand streaming video of massive sporting events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics on NBCOlympics.com, 2009 March Madness on Demand with CBSSports.com and the live broadcast of the Masters on AT&T’s Fan Zone.
What IPL Fans can expect?
These high quality and stutter-free online events have demonstrated the platform’s reliability to deliver dynamic media experiences for viewers around the world.
IPL fans can expect this same level of quality and support, including features like interactive scoreboard and statistics display, Deep Zoom, various data feeds such as ball-by-ball commentary, and information about match schedules, weather forecast, pitch reports, team standings, and other stuff. It’s all about keeping fans close to the action no matter where the matches are played.
Silverlight 2.0 has been downloaded and installed on more than 300 million consumer PCs in just the six months since its launch.
Due to local television rights, Live streaming will not be available in South Africa, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and USA. Highlights and full replays of the matches will be available in South Africa, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and USA on demand, approximately 72 hours after the match. A 5-minute delay for the web streaming is expected in India.
WATCH IPL 20-20 STREAMING ON www.iplt20.com
In India, Microsoft will host a live demo session for press across 3 cities - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore on 17 April 2009. The sessions will be held at the Microsoft offices in these cities.